OPINION:
Eating “organisms” evokes an image of a mouthful of squirmy things harvested from a petri dish. Eating “genetically modified organisms” sounds even worse. Those are the thoughts that skeptics of genetically modified organisms, or GMO foods, mean to trigger if they can force the food industry to put GMO labels on their healthy food. Consumers can’t be trusted to decide whether genetically modified groceries are right choice for their families. Nanny doesn’t necessarily know better than Mom.
Vermont will take away choice on July 1 when it requires GMO labels on all products containing modified ingredients. The home of Bernie Sanders, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and politically correct cows, Vermont has burnished a reputation as a land of healthy, organic food that comes out of the garden, not a box or can, which is great if you own a farm. Organic food growers think they can get a larger share of the grocery market if the bioengineered products of competitors are made to look scary.
In response, Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, a Republican, has written an amendment to the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946 that would preempt the Vermont state law and direct the U.S. secretary of Agriculture to establish a nationwide voluntary labeling standard for bioengineered foods. “What we’re facing is not a safety or health issue, it’s a market issue,” says Mr. Roberts, whose bill passed the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee earlier this month. There’s a fear factor, too. “Mandatory GMO labeling is intended to scare folks away from one of the greatest developments in human nutrition in our history,” argues Jay Lehr, science director at the Heartland Institute, a free-market think tank.
Genetically modified foodstuffs are actually not all that rare and exotic. GMO crops have been farmed for more than 30 years, popular with farmers for their resistance to insects, disease and even harsh weather. For decades, Americans have been happily chowing down on GMO groceries, including 93 percent of the corn grown in the great American breadbasket. Opponents have labeled those modified products “Frankenfoods,” as if they’re some sort of laboratory experiment that leads to weird genetic mutations. There’s zero evidence that this is so. But naysayers, including the left-wing Union of Concerned Scientists, which is against nearly everything that tastes good, argue that decades of testing aren’t enough to prove the food is safe. Kids who eat their cornflakes won’t grow an extra ear, but the scare frightens some shoppers, 57 percent of whom told Pew Research Center pollsters last year that they worry that genetically modified foods might be unhealthy. But 88 percent of scientists who answered the poll said they think GMOs are generally safe.
Consumers are smart enough to decide for themselves where the correct science lies. Organic food producers are free now to label their products “No GMO,” to reassure picky customers. If other states follow Vermont’s lead, a patchwork of food labeling regulations could make a hash of the $770 billion annual retail family food market. That might be enough to frighten Dr. Frankenstein himself.
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